Playing chef at Saddle with Elysian Tales
I keep a copy of The Daily Stoic by my bed. Each morning begins with a Stoic quote and a short blurb to orient me toward a calmer, wiser day. But applying Stoic wisdom in the thick of life’s upheaval is another story altogether.
All this to preface my thoughts on the remarkable rebirth of my good friend Marwa, and her new boutique gastronomic experience: Elysian Tales.
Elysian Tales the launch party
Before the pandemic, Marwa ran one of the top-rated food tours in Barcelona. Wanderbeak consistently ranked in the top 5, and by 2020 had expanded to Madrid, Lisbon, and Seville, curating hundreds of meaningful food experiences in its final year. Then, of course, COVID hit. The hospitality industry collapsed under the weight of uncertainty. Wanderbeak was one of its many casualties.
Rather than rail against the injustice—of building a profitable, growing business only to watch it crumble overnight—Marwa chose a different path. She pivoted. Took a temporary career detour. And when the world of hospitality eventually righted itself, she didn’t just rush back to reclaim her old space. Because by then, everyone and their pet fish seemingly had a food tour.
Little gem lettuce, strawberries and peas with Elysian Tales
But the love for hospitality never left her. Instead, she went deeper—enrolling in an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management at Bocconi University. That decision planted the seed for something new.
In 2024, Elysian Tales began to take shape. And last month, the first curated experience launched in Madrid.
So what is Elysian Tales? It’s the grown-up, post-pandemic answer to hospitality fatigue. It eschews the food-tour-by-numbers model for something more intimate, more curated, and infinitely more magical.
Sherry tasting
Set in an award-winning restaurant in Madrid, Elysian Tales invites a handful of guests into a world of storytelling, culinary artistry, and seamless service. It begins with a dramatic tower of golden butter carved at the table—a ritual that is part theatre, part opulence—and flows into a menu that weaves together tradition and innovation.
It’s not just a meal. It’s a narrative, a mood, a portal.
Marwa turned adversity into a creative force. And what’s emerged is Elysian Tales—an experience that doesn’t try to pick up where things left off, but instead begins anew, wiser and more enchanted than before.
Elysian Tales
www.elysiantales.com
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